Valdosta scores all 20 points in second half to blank Richmond Hill

VALDOSTA – A week after knocking off rival Lowndes in the Winnersville Classic, the Valdosta Wildcats came out flat in their second region game of the season.

Valdosta head coach Shelton Felton acknowledged his team didn’t play Wildcat football, but the ‘Cats scored all 20 of their points in the second half to beat the Richmond Hill Wildcats (3-5, 0-2 Region) 20-0 Friday night at home.

With the win, Valdosta improved to 8-0 for the first time since 2001 and moved to 2-0 in Region 1-7A.

“We had that Lowndes hangover,” Felton said of the sluggish start. “We didn’t come out early playing. We had too many mistakes. We finally went in at halftime and just talked and we woke up. We decided we wanted to play a little Wildcat football and played the way we were supposed to play and got a couple scores from big passes. I felt like if we could get up on them, they wouldn’t score on our defense. … In the second half, we got 20 points and we got us a victory.”

After forcing a three-and-out at the start of the fourth quarter, the ‘Cats started from their own 2-yard line following a quick kick by Richmond Hill quarterback Ty Goldrick on fourth and 20 from the 38.

The ‘Cats went to junior running back Jordan Gatlin on three straight plays to get a first down then two plays later, junior Shaq Wright went for five yards on second and 11 from the 13 – setting up an explosive play for the ‘Cats to put the game away for good.

On third and 6 from his own 18, sophomore quarterback Todd Robinson unleashed a deep ball for Jalen Whitehead, who outran every Richmond Hill defender to the end zone for an 82-yard touchdown to make it 20-0 with 8:20 remaining.

“We liked the matchup,” Felton said of the 82-yard strike. “They were going man and we got one-on-one with the safety and as a matter of fact, Todd called it. He checked it off and called it. It was a great call by him. He threw the bomb and it was a great catch and once we scored there, we could breathe a little bit up 20-0 and we kind of knew it was over with then.”

Offensively, while not prolific on the scoreboard, the ‘Cats quietly put together one of their best games all season – tallying 454 total yards, with productive nights on the ground and through the air.

Robinson went 11 of 21 for a season-high 209 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 11 carries for 42 yards in the win.

Valdosta ran the ball 38 times for 245 yards, earning 15 first downs and converting 5 of 13 chances on third down.

Without top running backs Charles Williams and Ahmad Denson due to undisclosed injuries, the bulk of the carries went to the 5-foot-6, 145-pound Gatlin.

The diminutive back turned in the finest game of his career with 18 carries for 177 yards, including a 75-yard scamper to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Eric Brantley for Valdosta’s first points of the night with 7:57 to go in the third quarter. For Brantley, it was his team-leading seventh rushing touchdown of the season.

“I’m proud of Gatlin,” Felton said. “He’s very undersized, but he has a big heart. I love him to death. He’s a fighter and he just kept running. He ran hard tonight and we leaned on him and leaned on him. I told him it’s the SEC of the South – you’ve gotta tote the rock and he toted it every time. He did a great job.”

Facing a third and 15 from the Richmond Hill 20, the ‘Cats jumped ahead 13-0 on a Robinson touchdown pass to Eli Lewis over the middle in the back of the end zone with 3:28 left in the third quarter.

Defensively, Friday night marked the third shutout of the season for a Valdosta defense that leads Class 7A in fewest points allowed this season.

Though Richmond Hill managed to move the ball on Valdosta at times throughout, they never got into the red zone as they settled for long field goal attempts. Sophomore kicker Blake Williams went 0 for 3 on field goals – missing from 54 and 46 earlier in the game and getting another 46-yarder  blocked by Brantley with 5:20 left in the third quarter.

“Give them credit, they had a great offensive plan,” Felton said of Richmond Hill. “The quarterback is really good. He made some good throws on us, but the whole thing is we’re going to play defense until they cross that white line. If you never cross that white line, we’re going to keep coming at you and be aggressive and our guys made plays. They missed three field goals and we got the shut out.”

Friday night was not a good night for field goal kickers on either side as Antonio Zapeta went 0 for 2 – getting a 35-yard field goal blocked with 4:37 left in the first quarter and missing low and wide on 39-yarder on fourth and 22 with 9:01 left in the second quarter.

Valdosta held Richmond Hill to 169 total yards Friday.

Despite 15 penalties called against Valdosta for 133 yards, Richmond Hill was unable to make the ‘Cats pay for their miscues.

Goldrick, who came into Friday as the No. 1 quarterback in Region 1-7A in passing yardage, completed 11 of 33 passes for 115 yards with no touchdowns.

Region 1-7A leading rusher Zion Gillard was held to just 28 yards on nine carries while running mate Caleb Easterling had eight carries for 20 yards in the loss.

“They did a good job of rolling away from us and getting on the edge, mass protection and taking shots – it was good playing on their part,” Felton said of Richmond Hill’s early success moving the ball down the field. “Everybody knows the D-line is our strength, so if we’re rushing three or four, they’re blocking with six or seven. They had us outnumbered, which was a good plan but we just kept battling and we got through it.”

Friday’s game was a polar opposite of last week for Valdosta offensively.

Against Lowndes, both teams scored all of their points in the first half while neither team allowed any points after halftime.

Against Richmond Hill, both teams were scoreless at the half.

“We just didn’t come out and execute,” Felton said. “We didn’t punch it in. We got down to the goal line several times and didn’t get points. We were going through the motions. I’m a firm believer, you’ve got to play this game with emotions. We didn’t have a lot of emotion. We had to find a way to get emotions.

“Once they realized they could get beat tonight – any night in this region, you could get beat – we woke up and we started playing. Our goal is to get in the playoffs. Our goal is to have a home playoff game. If we lose, then we couldn’t have that goal so the kids came to fight (in the second half) and they played.”

UP NEXT

Richmond Hill visits Lowndes Oct. 28.

No. 4 Valdosta travels to Kingsland, Georgia to face region foe Camden, who lost to Colquitt 49-21 Friday night. It’ll be Valdosta’s first game outside of Valdosta since Sept. 9 at Warner Robins.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been on the road but you can always count on Camden being a well-coached team,” Felton said. “They run the wing-T, which is an offense you don’t see running around here anymore so it’s gonna take some scheming and some planning on our part.

“We look forward to the challenge. The goal is we want a home playoff game and it goes through Camden. We’ve got to go down there and play our style of football. We will be ready and we will play better next week.”